Collab Lab 67: Connecting to Community

What’s possible when we start connecting the dots?

In November we explored ideas around place-based engagement. This session will serve as a follow on as we explore the work K-12 students might do to support the City of Milwaukee as it prioritizes and plans playground redevelopment work.  How might they:

• help understand the history of a playground and the role it has played in its neighborhood?
• document how a playground is currently used, imagine what a playground might become?

Who could K-12 students meet and learn from as they take on this work?

What resources might teachers tap to help make this happen for their students?

Our goal for this session is to understand the opportunities to engage students in this work, where these align with the goals of teachers, and what teachers need to see in place in terms of scope, structure, and support to make participation an easy “yes”.  We’ll use what comes out of this discussion as input for collaborative design workshops this summer to tee up projects for the 2025-26 school year.

Come share your experience, questions, and ideas. As always, you’ll be joined by peers and collaborators from K-12 higher education, industry, and the nonprofit community. If you work with or know of a student (7th grade and above) who would like to join the discussion, please extend the invitation.

Agenda

Food and non-alcoholic beverages will be provided. There is no charge for participation but space is limited!

Featured Participants

Joseph Kaltenberg — MKE Parks Manager, City of Milwaukee – Department of Public Works

Joseph began working for the City of Milwaukee in 2015, coordinating the MKE Plays initiative, which re-established parks as a priority for local government and transformed the city’s most
underutilized parks into enriching play environments. Since then, he has secured more than $9 million in public and private funding to stabilize park operations and create a new organizational structure within DPW. This entity, re-branded externally as MKE Parks, is responsible for the sustainable management of city recreational assets.  Joseph has a B.S. in Exercise Science from the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse, and a M.A. in Education Policy from Marquette University. He served in Peace Corps from 2011-2013 in rural Zambia where he worked on numerous grassroots community development projects.

Parks in the Pipeline

The City’s list of parks in the pipeline for redevelopment include: